We had just finished a massive eye camp in anandwan.on the last day,the ot had finished at 6 am and a few of us had decided to go for a morning walk..
We came across a blind school with notes of music coming out,so we just went in entranced by the music..
What we saw was a blind teacher teaching harmonium and tabla to
His students,i looked at the harmonium keys to see if there were any markings on them for the blind to identify them,but there weren't any.Yet when any of the kids played any key wrong,the teacher would catch them immediately and made sure they played correctly.
We got talking to the teacher to try and learn something from him,he explained to us the importance of the notes in music how each key represented a different note and how playing different notes can make music,i knew all of this because i myself had learned singing as a child,but i had forgotten it all as i grew older,now it all came crashing back to me,how i had left singing so many years back because i thought that i had to concentrate on my studies and i couldn't do both,so i stopped singing.
And here i was, listening to this man sing sufi music in the most beautiful,heart touching voice i have ever heard and i wanted to sing,i wanted to be there singing,not listening,so i sang,i sang whatever little i could remember of those long ago lessons,and my heart was both heavy and light.heavy because of what i missed and light because i did what i enjoyed with no thought of tomorrow,in that moment i was in the present and thats all that matters.
we took leave of the teacher,not knowing if we will ever meet again,yet having learnt something from him.
Here was a visually impaired person who was living life in the present while i was a physically normal person who thought i was living a fulfilling life while the truth is that i was living in an empty shell because i had left behind so many valuable things to be where i am today.
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Sunday, December 09, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
My inspiration..
This blog is dedicated to a very great lady, a superwoman, and somebody i have always looked up to..
She's beautiful, intelligent, talented and has a heart of gold.
She not only is a successful doctor, but also a wife and a mother, and is loved and respected by everyone who know her..
She is an extremely dedicated and successful doctor, and is passionate about her job, and though she could have worked in any of the successful corporate hospitals and could have made a lot of money, she didn't, instead she chose to work in a semi-charitable hospital,which charges minimal fees, she doesn't earn much, but the care she gives to each of her patients is much more than what most other doctors bother to give..
thats why her patients keep coming back to her, and keep recommending her to other patients..
Though she is a successful doctor, she still takes good care of her family and friends,she is one of those people on whom you can rely on ,at a moment of crisis. I have seen this lady run at a moments notice ,to any of her friends or family who need her. I have never seen her say "no" to anyone who asks her for her help..
She has been a good mother to her kids, she has done everything a mother should do for her kids and more, she put her career on the back burner so she can take care of her kids, she not only made sure that her children got the best opportunities,went to the best schools and colleges, but she also made sure that they had other interests and developed their hobbies, she has attended every parent teacher meeting and worked hard so that her children could excel, and today her children are each successful in their own right because of the hard work and faith she has had in them..
Despite all her achievements, she is down to earth, and she keeps giving back to the society in whatever way she can, not just by helping poor patients, but also by helping underprivileged kids get education..
She is the reason i wanted to become a doctor, and i have always wanted to be like her, i have tried hard to be like her, but I'm nothing compared to what she is. Though she's approaching her 60's,she still works harder than anyone i know, and she still looks beautiful, inside and out..
She's a superwoman, a lot of people might have heard of Shobha de or someone famous,when they say "superwoman", but not many have heard of Dr. Madhuravani
Yes, she's my inspiration and she is my Mom and this blog is dedicated to her..
My Mom,My inspiration!!
She's beautiful, intelligent, talented and has a heart of gold.
She not only is a successful doctor, but also a wife and a mother, and is loved and respected by everyone who know her..
She is an extremely dedicated and successful doctor, and is passionate about her job, and though she could have worked in any of the successful corporate hospitals and could have made a lot of money, she didn't, instead she chose to work in a semi-charitable hospital,which charges minimal fees, she doesn't earn much, but the care she gives to each of her patients is much more than what most other doctors bother to give..
thats why her patients keep coming back to her, and keep recommending her to other patients..
Though she is a successful doctor, she still takes good care of her family and friends,she is one of those people on whom you can rely on ,at a moment of crisis. I have seen this lady run at a moments notice ,to any of her friends or family who need her. I have never seen her say "no" to anyone who asks her for her help..
She has been a good mother to her kids, she has done everything a mother should do for her kids and more, she put her career on the back burner so she can take care of her kids, she not only made sure that her children got the best opportunities,went to the best schools and colleges, but she also made sure that they had other interests and developed their hobbies, she has attended every parent teacher meeting and worked hard so that her children could excel, and today her children are each successful in their own right because of the hard work and faith she has had in them..
Despite all her achievements, she is down to earth, and she keeps giving back to the society in whatever way she can, not just by helping poor patients, but also by helping underprivileged kids get education..
She is the reason i wanted to become a doctor, and i have always wanted to be like her, i have tried hard to be like her, but I'm nothing compared to what she is. Though she's approaching her 60's,she still works harder than anyone i know, and she still looks beautiful, inside and out..
She's a superwoman, a lot of people might have heard of Shobha de or someone famous,when they say "superwoman", but not many have heard of Dr. Madhuravani
Yes, she's my inspiration and she is my Mom and this blog is dedicated to her..
Sunday, May 15, 2011
India, the third world country vs India, the superpower
The I A S results for this year were out a few days back and the newspapers promptly ran stories about the toppers, right from some with a humble background, to those who have followed the family tradition(i.e whose parent(s) are IAS officers themselves).when my mom read these articles, she wishfully said that maybe i should try for civils too,but i have never been interested in it, i never was and i never will.Besides, i told her, its not fair that i waste the lakhs of rupees that the indian government has invested in making me a doctor.Her argument was that a lot of doctors are doing that every year, what about all those doctors and engineers who got educated in the state run colleges with low fees and cheap education who promptly left to the US and other countries after graduation and settled there?isnt that brain drain?, and when so many are doing it why not me?, what difference does it make if one person tries to think differently and act differently?
But, i believe it does, it matters what each of us does with what we have got, India a great country and dont let anyone make you feel differently, like every country, there are problems, there is poverty,crime, corruption, inequality, illiteracy etc, but we need to look at the good ponits too, the vision our founding fathers had was beatiful, they envisioned a sovereign, socialist, secular democracy..
we still have free medical care, some of the best and top colleges are still run by the government and for which the fees is almost nominal, the largest railways in the world and a lot of other things we take for granted..
Sometimes i wonder, where did that vision of our founding fathers go?, where am i living?why am i still living here instead of searching for greener pastures(namely the US and other western countries), but im not ready to give up on my country just yet, i will try and give back what i have gotten from my country, and wont give up hope..not yet...
But, i believe it does, it matters what each of us does with what we have got, India a great country and dont let anyone make you feel differently, like every country, there are problems, there is poverty,crime, corruption, inequality, illiteracy etc, but we need to look at the good ponits too, the vision our founding fathers had was beatiful, they envisioned a sovereign, socialist, secular democracy..
we still have free medical care, some of the best and top colleges are still run by the government and for which the fees is almost nominal, the largest railways in the world and a lot of other things we take for granted..
Sometimes i wonder, where did that vision of our founding fathers go?, where am i living?why am i still living here instead of searching for greener pastures(namely the US and other western countries), but im not ready to give up on my country just yet, i will try and give back what i have gotten from my country, and wont give up hope..not yet...
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The saga of Tata Nano
My dad has always had something for new things,especially electronics and cars,when Tata launched the indigenous car Indica,more than a decade back,he was one of the first people to book it,and when the Tata Nano was announced,he was again one of the first people to book it..
Now,the nano has been marketed as the cheapest car and it has been targeted for the middle class who use bikes and cant afford a car,but there are a few problems with it which u realise only after driving on the road for a while..
When u 1st enter the car,u will realise that its surprisingly roomy for car which looks so tiny,there is a lot of leg room for all fourseats..
But if u are going to drive,thats a different story,first of all,the clutch,brake and accelerator seem to protrude in the air(the engine is in the rear,so there is no engine in the front),when you are driving it,you will realise that the weight of ur leg falls directly on the clutch with the result that you end up pressing the clutch without realising it,and another thing is that since its a light weight car,if u stop the car without applying the brakes firmly,even on a flat surface,it will move back,this is what makes it difficult to drive in a stop and go traffic,where you have to keep shifting from accelerator to brake constantly,also,if you have an ac,it will keep shutting the engine down when you slow down a little,the horn is another thing,it sounds like a scooter and nobody even hears it in the traffic, thats why i dont prefer to drive the nano,i rather prefer to drive a second hand maruti which is easier to control,infact for all those families which are in need of a car,a secondhand car which is well maintained is better than a brand new nano!!
P.s: while my mom(who has been driving since more than 15yrs) was driving in the nano today,in peak traffic,the car car got hit by 2 buses simultaneously,one from behind and one from the side,it seems,the car jus shut down cos of the ac in the middle of the road,and before mom could restart the engine,it started moving backwards,and got hit by the bus,while anotjer scraped it from the right while overtaking it,luckily,mom is safe,but it got me thinking..since the nano has it its engine on the back,and it tends to move back in traffic,isnt there a chance of it getting crushed easily?how safe is the nano on the indian roads?and what do we do with the nano which we already have?
Now,the nano has been marketed as the cheapest car and it has been targeted for the middle class who use bikes and cant afford a car,but there are a few problems with it which u realise only after driving on the road for a while..
When u 1st enter the car,u will realise that its surprisingly roomy for car which looks so tiny,there is a lot of leg room for all fourseats..
But if u are going to drive,thats a different story,first of all,the clutch,brake and accelerator seem to protrude in the air(the engine is in the rear,so there is no engine in the front),when you are driving it,you will realise that the weight of ur leg falls directly on the clutch with the result that you end up pressing the clutch without realising it,and another thing is that since its a light weight car,if u stop the car without applying the brakes firmly,even on a flat surface,it will move back,this is what makes it difficult to drive in a stop and go traffic,where you have to keep shifting from accelerator to brake constantly,also,if you have an ac,it will keep shutting the engine down when you slow down a little,the horn is another thing,it sounds like a scooter and nobody even hears it in the traffic, thats why i dont prefer to drive the nano,i rather prefer to drive a second hand maruti which is easier to control,infact for all those families which are in need of a car,a secondhand car which is well maintained is better than a brand new nano!!
P.s: while my mom(who has been driving since more than 15yrs) was driving in the nano today,in peak traffic,the car car got hit by 2 buses simultaneously,one from behind and one from the side,it seems,the car jus shut down cos of the ac in the middle of the road,and before mom could restart the engine,it started moving backwards,and got hit by the bus,while anotjer scraped it from the right while overtaking it,luckily,mom is safe,but it got me thinking..since the nano has it its engine on the back,and it tends to move back in traffic,isnt there a chance of it getting crushed easily?how safe is the nano on the indian roads?and what do we do with the nano which we already have?
The good samaritan
Every year,i just celebrate my bday with family and friends,cut a cake etc, for a few years now i had wanted to go to an orphanage or the less fortunate and help them,and so i finally did it this year, we found out the address of an orphanage and we started out..
It was in a remote place,and we dint know which way to go,so we asked someone for the directions..mostly when asked for directions,we grumpily tell them we dont know or even if we do know it we'll just tell them and walk off,but this young man with a cute face and a sweet smile,not just told us the directions,once he was joined by his friend,they showed us the way till the orphanage on their bike!!
He made me realise that,Sometimes its not just the poor whom we can help,we can help anyone who may or may not be poor,who may or may not ask for our help,we can help anybody,but more importantly,we should do it wholeheartedly and with a smile on our faces..:)
It was in a remote place,and we dint know which way to go,so we asked someone for the directions..mostly when asked for directions,we grumpily tell them we dont know or even if we do know it we'll just tell them and walk off,but this young man with a cute face and a sweet smile,not just told us the directions,once he was joined by his friend,they showed us the way till the orphanage on their bike!!
He made me realise that,Sometimes its not just the poor whom we can help,we can help anyone who may or may not be poor,who may or may not ask for our help,we can help anybody,but more importantly,we should do it wholeheartedly and with a smile on our faces..:)
Sunday, January 02, 2011
The Day i lost my voice
I woke up today to my mom telling me to wake up,and when i opened my mouth to say im awake,i couldnt speak!!
All i could do was barely whisper,i had to go to mom n sign to her that i couldnt speak,what followed was a bunch of questions from her,but no matter how much i tried,all i could do was hiss,whatever i try to say,i couldnt say it,it was so frustrating that i started to cry ,out of helplessness.Mom saw my condition and reassured me and told me to do warm saline gargling,following which she gave me peppered milk and hot dosas,thanks to which my voice is recovered,not completely,its still hoarse and squeaky,buy atleast i can communicate and express myself..
That got me thinking bout how we take some things for granted,and never give a thought to it until we lose it.. We are all blessed with so many things but we never value them unless we lose them.. Maybe its time to appreciate all those things we should be thankful for.. Our vision, voice ,hearing,taste smell,in short our five senses,our limbs which are perfectly funtional,and to all of us in democratic countries,our freedom of speech,and to be who you are and to do what you want..cheers!!!
All i could do was barely whisper,i had to go to mom n sign to her that i couldnt speak,what followed was a bunch of questions from her,but no matter how much i tried,all i could do was hiss,whatever i try to say,i couldnt say it,it was so frustrating that i started to cry ,out of helplessness.Mom saw my condition and reassured me and told me to do warm saline gargling,following which she gave me peppered milk and hot dosas,thanks to which my voice is recovered,not completely,its still hoarse and squeaky,buy atleast i can communicate and express myself..
That got me thinking bout how we take some things for granted,and never give a thought to it until we lose it.. We are all blessed with so many things but we never value them unless we lose them.. Maybe its time to appreciate all those things we should be thankful for.. Our vision, voice ,hearing,taste smell,in short our five senses,our limbs which are perfectly funtional,and to all of us in democratic countries,our freedom of speech,and to be who you are and to do what you want..cheers!!!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Journeys of life
I am lucky enough to have travelled quite a bit,and it's interesting to travel and see new places,but what makes it more interesting is the journeys as much as the destination,these journeys can change your life,you meet all kinds of people and even animals...
The first person I remember when I think of the people I met is swanag uncle,he is around my fathers age and he told me that he has a daughter my age,he worked for many years as an executive and he had recently launched his own company with his wife,we spoke a lot and exchanged our emails when we were parting,and he told me that he liked interacting with youngsters and he had recently started sending out 'thought for the day" messages to everyone ,and he has been sending them to me for many years now,i never met him again but I am glad I met him cos he brightens up my day with the simple and thought provoking messages..
Then there are the people whom you would like to stay in touch but never do,majority of the people you meet come under this category,there was my namesake who spoke a lot and engaged us(my mom n me) for the entire journey,we promised to keep in touch and but never did,
And then ob another journey,i met a bunch of people around my own age,software engineers who kept me entertained,I exchanged phones numbers with one of them and we did stay in contact for a while but we lost touch,
There was another time when my whole class was going on a trip to goa,this time, we(all medicos)were an entertaining bunch to our co-passengers who were from an arts college,I guess we were an interesting subject cos one of them even made a lot of sketches of us!!
Sometimes u end up with obnoxious or downright weird people traveling with you,I still remember a young man who was acting weird,and made everyone around him uncomfortable,but he seemed decent well educated and spoke in English,so i was curious as to why he was behaving weirdly,After a while he brokedown and told me(for some reason he called me sister and decided to tell me his problems) that he was from a different city and he was married and he had a kid too..
Here goes his story..he was a student when he met his wife ,a very beautiful girl but whose father was a very influential person,and did not approve of him,but still they decided to go against their parents wishes and got married,and she soon became pregnant and then the problems started,they started fighting more and more and she became more and more unhappy,till one day he got so angry that he told her to go back to her parents if she dint want to stay,she walked out on him then and applied for a divorce,he was so disillusioned after that,that he got a job in a different city so that he could forget her,but he couldn't and he didn't,and he kept destroying himself till,the case went to court and he realized that he cant let her go,so he decided to fight for his family and now he was on the way back so that he could win back the love of his wife and child,he was a wreak cos he dint know how it would go,despite myself I pitied him,and so I listened patiently to his story and wished him luck,I hope he got a second chance cos even the worst of us deserve a second chance..
On another of my journeys,I met red(I don't remember his real name). I was traveling from US to India via Dubai,it was long flight and I was tired ,besides I was hoping I'll get some sleep on the next flight so that I can set my sleep cycle,but Alas!! I ended up sitting beside Red who was going home after many years ,and he kept spoke a lot,he again had a story ,and the girl he was involved with was also my namesake,so I couldn't help but listen to his story,and before long,we reached India...
And then there's kielo(or keelo),the 3yr old bull dog who was my co-passenger on one of my flights.Kielo was one of the most well behaved and well trained dogs I've ever met, ,like most dogs, he sniffed my bag and me before settling near my feet,he was followed by his trainer,a nice lady who introduced me to kielo,and told me that hes a guide dog,and as the plane started taxiing on the runway,kielo sat up on his seat and looked out of the window cos it seems he liked to look out of the window,and throughout the journey,I dint hear him make any noise except when he was eating sausages!! But as we reached the destination,kielo again sat up on his seat and I could sense that he was scared of the noise and the disturbance of take off as well as landing,so I held his paw till the flight landed!!
These are jus a few of the people I met during my various travels,and theres a lot more to come in my life,cos Life is A Journey,and our paths keep crossing all the time,and I shall end by quoting one the thought for the day messages which swanag has sent me..
"it is not what happens to you that matters but it is wat happens 'in' you that matters"
The first person I remember when I think of the people I met is swanag uncle,he is around my fathers age and he told me that he has a daughter my age,he worked for many years as an executive and he had recently launched his own company with his wife,we spoke a lot and exchanged our emails when we were parting,and he told me that he liked interacting with youngsters and he had recently started sending out 'thought for the day" messages to everyone ,and he has been sending them to me for many years now,i never met him again but I am glad I met him cos he brightens up my day with the simple and thought provoking messages..
Then there are the people whom you would like to stay in touch but never do,majority of the people you meet come under this category,there was my namesake who spoke a lot and engaged us(my mom n me) for the entire journey,we promised to keep in touch and but never did,
And then ob another journey,i met a bunch of people around my own age,software engineers who kept me entertained,I exchanged phones numbers with one of them and we did stay in contact for a while but we lost touch,
There was another time when my whole class was going on a trip to goa,this time, we(all medicos)were an entertaining bunch to our co-passengers who were from an arts college,I guess we were an interesting subject cos one of them even made a lot of sketches of us!!
Sometimes u end up with obnoxious or downright weird people traveling with you,I still remember a young man who was acting weird,and made everyone around him uncomfortable,but he seemed decent well educated and spoke in English,so i was curious as to why he was behaving weirdly,After a while he brokedown and told me(for some reason he called me sister and decided to tell me his problems) that he was from a different city and he was married and he had a kid too..
Here goes his story..he was a student when he met his wife ,a very beautiful girl but whose father was a very influential person,and did not approve of him,but still they decided to go against their parents wishes and got married,and she soon became pregnant and then the problems started,they started fighting more and more and she became more and more unhappy,till one day he got so angry that he told her to go back to her parents if she dint want to stay,she walked out on him then and applied for a divorce,he was so disillusioned after that,that he got a job in a different city so that he could forget her,but he couldn't and he didn't,and he kept destroying himself till,the case went to court and he realized that he cant let her go,so he decided to fight for his family and now he was on the way back so that he could win back the love of his wife and child,he was a wreak cos he dint know how it would go,despite myself I pitied him,and so I listened patiently to his story and wished him luck,I hope he got a second chance cos even the worst of us deserve a second chance..
On another of my journeys,I met red(I don't remember his real name). I was traveling from US to India via Dubai,it was long flight and I was tired ,besides I was hoping I'll get some sleep on the next flight so that I can set my sleep cycle,but Alas!! I ended up sitting beside Red who was going home after many years ,and he kept spoke a lot,he again had a story ,and the girl he was involved with was also my namesake,so I couldn't help but listen to his story,and before long,we reached India...
And then there's kielo(or keelo),the 3yr old bull dog who was my co-passenger on one of my flights.Kielo was one of the most well behaved and well trained dogs I've ever met, ,like most dogs, he sniffed my bag and me before settling near my feet,he was followed by his trainer,a nice lady who introduced me to kielo,and told me that hes a guide dog,and as the plane started taxiing on the runway,kielo sat up on his seat and looked out of the window cos it seems he liked to look out of the window,and throughout the journey,I dint hear him make any noise except when he was eating sausages!! But as we reached the destination,kielo again sat up on his seat and I could sense that he was scared of the noise and the disturbance of take off as well as landing,so I held his paw till the flight landed!!
These are jus a few of the people I met during my various travels,and theres a lot more to come in my life,cos Life is A Journey,and our paths keep crossing all the time,and I shall end by quoting one the thought for the day messages which swanag has sent me..
"it is not what happens to you that matters but it is wat happens 'in' you that matters"
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
resurrection
Hi fellow bloggers,
I haven't blogged in a long time,and though I might pretend to have been too busy or involved with other things,the first is false the second may be true..
I am a lazy person,and though my mind is active my body isn't so though I have wanted to write a blog for a very long time,I haven't ,but hopefully now I'm here,finally and I hope I keep writing and I hope I find people interested in what I have to say..
I have a lot of things to say,and I would appreciate your feedback..
So keep coming back..
Sayonara for now,keep reading and LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX!!
I haven't blogged in a long time,and though I might pretend to have been too busy or involved with other things,the first is false the second may be true..
I am a lazy person,and though my mind is active my body isn't so though I have wanted to write a blog for a very long time,I haven't ,but hopefully now I'm here,finally and I hope I keep writing and I hope I find people interested in what I have to say..
I have a lot of things to say,and I would appreciate your feedback..
So keep coming back..
Sayonara for now,keep reading and LIVE LIFE TO THE MAX!!
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